


The Man with the Book

by Vita_sine_fantasy_mors_est



Category: Original Work
Genre: But not actually that dark, Character Death, Dystopia, I'm not sure why this is so dark, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Beta Read, Prompt Fill, This prompt just grabbed me and would not let go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 08:39:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6463360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vita_sine_fantasy_mors_est/pseuds/Vita_sine_fantasy_mors_est
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fill for the Seventh Sanctum Writing Prompt Generator Prompt: <em>Authority is a man with a book, which surprised exactly one person.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Man with the Book

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published fic, and un-betaed, so any mistakes are all mine. The [ Seventh Sanctum Prompt Generator ](http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=writeprompt) gave me the prompt and my brain decided to run with it. This is what came out. Hope you enjoy!

The man with the book came around to all of the houses. Taking inventory, he said, to help the government get a clear picture of the true state of the country's resources. Everyone else said that he was making note of any potential troublemakers or anyone who had something they weren't supposed to or people who had really nice things, so that it would be easier for the government to control people later. Everyone found out later that the man with the book was the head of the secret police, who had no official name, but were generally called The Invisible Hook, because they took people right out of society without any warning.

The only person who was surprised by how much power the man with the book had was his wife. She unfortunately met a messy end after her husband found her dipping into the household cash box to take some money to her sister who needed it to pay for her son's lifesaving open heart surgery.

The son survived and six months later he arranged a very small funeral for the wife of the man with the book. The boy joined the fledgling resistance movement in its attempt to overthrow the not-actually-utopian government, but it was six years before they were successful. The day after the resistance took over the capital city, the boy, now a grown man, stood in front of the people and brought their charges against the man with the book. After a short but relatively fair trial, the man with the book was executed by firing squad and his body burned. 

However, this did not bring peace, and for the next 75 years, the country was ruled by an ever changing succession of new, extreme regimes that each only lasted a few years (or shorter) before the pendulum swung back the other way again. It was, in fact, the boy's granddaughter who was able to unite the country enough that it could have peace talks and votes and could come up with a system of government that would work for the long term. Three months later, the boy's granddaughter was sworn in as the First Senator of the country, a position which she held for thirty-five years before dying of thyroid cancer.


End file.
